Understanding How Lipogems® May Support Rotator Cuff Healing
Pietro Randelli, Alessandra Menon, Vincenza Ragone, Pasquale Creo, Sonia Bergante, Filippo Randelli, Laura De Girolamo, Umberto Alfieri Montrasio, Giuseppe Banfi, Paolo Cabitza, Guido Tettamanti, Luigi Anastasia · BioMed Research International · 2016
Lab Study Shows Lipogems® Boosts Tendon Stem Cell Growth
Researchers in Italy wanted to understand how Lipogems® might help rotator cuff injuries heal. They studied tendon stem cells—special repair cells that naturally live in your shoulder tendons. These cells can multiply and transform into new tendon tissue when activated. The research team discovered that exposing these cells to Lipogems® (micro-fragmented fat tissue from your own body) made them multiply faster. This is important because having more repair cells available could speed up healing after a rotator cuff tear or surgery.
Tendon Repair Cells Multiplied Three Times Faster
The study's most striking finding involved cell growth rates. When tendon stem cells were exposed to Lipogems® in the laboratory, they multiplied approximately three times faster than untreated cells. This accelerated growth happened without changing what the cells fundamentally are. They remained true stem cells, keeping their natural ability to develop into different tissue types. For patients, this suggests that Lipogems® could help activate your body's own repair system more quickly.
Cells Kept Their Healing Abilities Intact
A key concern with any treatment that speeds up cell growth is whether it might change the cells in unwanted ways. The researchers tested whether the faster-growing cells still behaved like normal tendon stem cells. They found that treated cells maintained their "stemness"—the ability to transform into bone, fat, or cartilage tissue when needed. This means Lipogems® appears to boost repair activity without compromising the quality or versatility of your natural healing cells.
Treatment Increased a Key Blood Vessel Growth Factor
The study revealed another encouraging finding about a protein called VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). Cells treated with Lipogems® produced more VEGF than untreated cells. VEGF helps new blood vessels form in damaged tissue. This matters because rotator cuff tendons have naturally poor blood supply. Limited blood flow is one reason these injuries heal slowly and sometimes fail after surgery. By increasing VEGF production, Lipogems® may help bring more oxygen and nutrients to healing tendon tissue.
A Simpler Approach Than Traditional Stem Cell Treatments
The researchers highlighted a practical advantage of using Lipogems® for rotator cuff repair. Traditional stem cell therapies require doctors to:
Remove tissue from your bone marrow or tendon
Send cells to a specialized laboratory
Wait weeks for cells to multiply
Inject the expanded cells back into your body
Lipogems® offers a different approach. Fat tissue can be collected through a simple liposuction procedure and processed during the same surgical session. This makes the treatment faster, safer, and more affordable than methods requiring laboratory expansion.
What This Means for Your Treatment Decision
This was a laboratory study, meaning researchers tested cells in dishes rather than in actual patients. While the results are promising, they represent early-stage science. The findings suggest that Lipogems® releases natural growth factors that could wake up the repair cells already present in your damaged rotator cuff. However, laboratory results do not always translate directly to patient outcomes.
If you are considering Lipogems® for a rotator cuff tear, this research provides scientific support for how the treatment might work at a cellular level. The technology appears to enhance your body's natural repair mechanisms without introducing foreign substances or significantly manipulating your cells. Discuss with your orthopedic surgeon whether this approach makes sense for your specific injury, overall health, and treatment goals.
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Source: Randelli et al., BioMed Research International, 2016.
Original Publication
Lipogems Product Treatment Increases the Proliferation Rate of Human Tendon Stem Cells without Affecting Their Stemness and Differentiation Capability
Pietro Randelli, Alessandra Menon, Vincenza Ragone, Pasquale Creo, Sonia Bergante, Filippo Randelli, Laura De Girolamo, Umberto Alfieri Montrasio, Giuseppe Banfi, Paolo Cabitza, Guido Tettamanti, Luigi Anastasia · BioMed Research International · 2016
This study investigated whether Lipogems, a minimally-processed lipoaspirate product, can activate human tendon stem cells (hTSCs) to enhance rotator cuff healing. Rotator cuff tears are common shoulder injuries with high retear rates due to poor tendon healing. Since Lipogems contains growth factors and an intact stromal vascular niche that may stimulate resident stem cells through paracrine mechanisms, the authors hypothesized it could represent a practical therapeutic approach without requiring ex vivo cell expansion. hTSCs were isolated from supraspinatus tendon specimens collected during arthroscopic rotator cuff repair and cocultured in a transwell system with Lipogems product. Cells were evaluated for proliferation rate, morphology, stem cell marker expression, VEGF expression, and differentiation and migration capabilities compared to untreated controls. Results demonstrated that Lipogems significantly increased hTSC proliferation rates without altering their stemness or differentiation capability. Additionally, treated cells showed increased VEGF expression, which is crucial for tissue neovascularization during healing. These findings support that directly activating resident hTSCs with Lipogems lipoaspirate could represent a new therapeutic approach for rotator cuff repair. This method offers advantages over traditional cell therapy approaches, as obtaining lipoaspirate is easier, safer, and more cost-effective than harvesting cells from tendon or bone marrow biopsies, expanding them in GMP facilities, and reinjecting them.